英語日記のムラゴンブログ

自分の考えがないと、英会話は弾まない

こんにちは、Milky-Englishです。 英語学習を習慣化する学習方法として、「英語で日記を書く」というのがあります。 毎日は苦痛かもしれませんが、一日おきとか、週3回くらいなら頑張れるかもしれませんね。 一方、英語学習のための日記といっても、一日に起きた事を何となく書き留めるだけでは、学習の効... 続きをみる

「なんにもないよりはマシ」って英語でいえますか？

あまり効果はないかもしれないけど、 何もしないよりはマシ。 ・・・という意味で、 日本語では「気休め」といったりしますね。 気休めだとはわかっているけど、 なにもないよりはいいんじゃない？ というとき、ネイティブがよく言うのが、 better than nothing といういい方です。 解説するま... 続きをみる

今日はやる気が出ない…というとき、ネイティブはよくこう言う

なんだかわからないけど、 今日はやる気がおきない… なぁんて日も、たまにはありますよね。 それは英語ネイティブも同じです。 どうしてもやる気がない、 エネルギーがわいてこない そんなときに、ネイティブがよく言うのが、 I don't feel like doing anything. というフレーズ... 続きをみる

日本人はMaybeをよく使うと指摘された件

うちの夫はイギリス人なので、 家庭内会話はもっぱら英語です。 私の英語もだいぶ マシになってきたと思っているんですが、 いまだにボキャブラリが出てこない こともあったりして… で、よく夫に言われるのが、 「日本人、Meybe多い」 って。 たしかによく使いますね。 日本人って、何かと 断言するのを嫌... 続きをみる

相槌を打つとき「Really?」「I see.」ばかり使ってませんか？文法力を上げる相槌の打ち方を提案します

会話の中で 相手の話を聞いて相槌を打つ際、 「Really?」「I see.」ばかり 使っていませんか？ 相槌の方法はいろいろありますが、 今回は相手の話を 傾聴していることを伝えながらも、 自分の文法力を鍛えることができる、 相槌の打ち方を紹介します。 それは、相手のいったことに対して 「助動詞あ... 続きをみる

Home party postponed to next week【英語日記】

This Saturday, our friends from Montreal were supposed to come to visit us. We live in the countryside, about 100 km from Montreal, so they were going... 続きをみる

ネイティブが意外とよく使ってる「Should have＋動詞完了形」

Should have＋動詞完了形は、 文法的には仮定法になります。 「仮定法」と聞いただけで 「難しそう」という印象を持つ人もいると思いますが、 英語ネイティブは意外とよく使うんですよね。 Should have＋動詞完了形という形は 過去に起きなったことに対して 「あのとき、～すればよかったのに... 続きをみる

アイルランドの映画「The Guard」を見ました

私はカナダに住んでいるんですが、 Amazonプライムを契約しておりまして、 映画や海外ドラマを見ることも多いです。 カナダのAmazonプライムなので、 日本のものとは少し ラインアップが違うと思うんですね。 だから、ブログで紹介してもなー って感じもありますが、 まあ、一応映画レビューということ... 続きをみる

Try to cancel iCloud Plus 【英語日記】

I didn't feel very motivated today, but I ended up having to tackle American English. At lunchtime, I received an email from Apple informing me that i... 続きをみる

「それってある意味～だね」を英語でいってみる

完全に同意するわけじゃないんだけど、 「ある意味そうだね」 といいたいことってありますよね。 そんなときの英語表現として使えるのが in a sense です。 ちょっとあいまいに表現したいとき、 「ある意味ではそうだね」 というふうに部分的に同意する感じかな。 そういうときによく使う英語フレーズで... 続きをみる

「もともとは」を表す英語表現

「もともとは～するつもりじゃなかった」 と英語でいいたいとき、 どんな言い方ができるでしょうか。 一つは、 initially を使う方法です。 Initially, we were going to go to Japan. もともとは日本に行くつもりだった。 もう一つ、 in the first... 続きをみる

「あのとき～しとけばよかったのに」を英語でいってみる

こんにちは！ 今日もカナダから書いています。 「～するべき」という言い方で使えるのが 助動詞「should」ですよね。 I should clean my room. 部屋を掃除しなくっちゃ。 みたいな感じで使うことができます。 でも、このshouldを should have ＋動詞の完了形 とい... 続きをみる

カナダで英語勉強中です

はじめての投稿になります。 カナダに住み始めて数年ですが、 最近、力を入れているのが英語の勉強です。 （今さら？） いままではなんとなくで 日常会話してきた英会話ですが、 そろそろ、レベルアップしたいなと思っています。 それで、真面目に（？）英語の学習に 取り組むことになりました。 このブログでは、... 続きをみる

Wordleをやってみた

I've come across a game called Wordle. I don't know how widely known this game already is, but personally it's today that I came to know this. I thoug... 続きをみる

笑いとは？

* Reading this post again myself, I found that what I wrote in this post is very confused. So I partly rewrote this post. Today, I watched a (clip of)... 続きをみる

人は宇宙時代に何語を喋るのか…？

There is a Sci-Fi genre called space opera. The time is set in a space age ... and people live in the outer space. Sometimes I fancifully wonder in wh... 続きをみる

ずっと思い違いをしていた

!? ... Shiga prefecture and Aichi prefecture are not adjacent ...!? Today, I happened to look on a color-coded map of Japan, and for the first time le... 続きをみる

さらにGoogle翻訳を活用する

As I've written before, I'm writing this blog by writing in English at the same time checking the Google Translate's translation into Japanese. But th... 続きをみる

読むときに画面をグレースケールにしてみる

In books, largely pages are printed in black and white. This could help make you focus on the text you're reading. The OS of the computer I'm using ..... 続きをみる

「愛の言霊」（サザンオールスターズ）

In the lyrics of "Ai no Kotodama," there is a rhyme which sounds a bit like French. And to spell the part as if you spell it as a French word: Umareku... 続きをみる

読む速度と理解の深さ

When a learner of English continues studying English, which of the following two will be attained earlier: precise understanding of meanings of word, ... 続きをみる

数学の問題に出会った

I was reading a blog I've frequnted, and in its entry yesterday, there was a sort of quiz to readers. It was a mathematical one. The author of the blo... 続きをみる

英語学習のためにアドオンを自作

Previously, I made an add-on that changes the default highlight color - like this: This was very useful to me ... for the default color is not so much... 続きをみる

多読心得・続

As to my quantity-focused reading, I think as follows. To choose appropriate reading materials is needed in reading exercise focused in quantity. As t... 続きをみる

「語学は量」を実感できそうなところ

I imagine like this: by continually reading a lot, you develop in the unconscious some dictionary of expression patterns. The dictionary (part of it i... 続きをみる

Googleの遊び心

Just now I googled the word "askew" and seconds afterward felt amused. The same thing happened I entered the word in Japanese "斜め". I don't know if ot... 続きをみる

多読の心得（今のところ）

How can I personally make my reading practice more effective? For me, it could be to put more weight on the amount of reading than on maximization of ... 続きをみる

散文であることを意識して読んでみる

As you read many English documents and texts, you encounter different sorts of the same language. By saying "different sorts," here I'm bearing in min... 続きをみる

現状で最も効果的な読み方

I should not assume that I can understand all the English texts at present which are within the scope of my interest. Rather, probably I should assume... 続きをみる

グーグル先生に英文を書き直してもらう（逆翻訳）

Ah, I've found a interesting way to make use of Google Translate for English writing exercise. You may already know this, but I didn't know it. First,... 続きをみる

動詞の形態に注目して読んでみる

There would be many ways under the name of reading practice ... A pure speed reading, a scrutiny reading, a scanning, etc. My reading practice now is ... 続きをみる

文法書、あと200ページほど

Now I've read about 300 pages of some 500-page grammar book. I wouldn't say it's almost there to finish reading this grammar book. But past the greate... 続きをみる

このブログはどう評価できるか

I think what I've written here as my diary or something is quite sloppy and must be factually fairly unreliable, let alone grammatical errors. I could... 続きをみる

Kindle本にも結構誤植がある（と思う）

Reading Amazon Kindle books whose written language is English, I feel there are quite a few typos. It might be my misperception ... but if it was real... 続きをみる

ハイライトの色を変えてみる

On the Windows 10 OS, the color of highlight on text on the browser is blue (I think it's the default). I wanted to change this color ... for me the c... 続きをみる

クイズ、というか疑問点

Let me give a quiz. What's the thing which "itsy bitsy," "pizza," "Nazi," "bankruptcy" all share? It's the /ts/ sound. But I don't know if English nat... 続きをみる

文中の落とし穴をさがす

I give attention to a sentence whose meaning I failed to grasp with several times of re-reading. With the question "Where is it that I stumbled in fol... 続きをみる

文法書も読みすすめていきたい

I'm reading an English grammar book in parallel with daily reading exercise. But my reading the grammar book has been very much prolonged and I haven'... 続きをみる

TOEICがまた中止

The 251st TOEIC Listening & Reading Test due to be held on 6/28 2020 was called off because of the coronavirus. You may already know this. I myself wa... 続きをみる

ライティング練習にGoogle翻訳（英→日）をみている理由

Entries of this blog contain many grammatical errors - including very elementary ones. The reason is because of my way of writing entries for this blo... 続きをみる

難しい本は英語だとなお難しい

Is it that my current level of English is short of that of reading difficult English books? I must consider efficiency of studying. Is it that reading... 続きをみる

リーディングを続ける

As a learner of English, how many is the number of books which is appropriate to work on reading at the same time? If the number is too many, it would... 続きをみる

ほかの音声読み上げサービスもみてみた

To use online text-to-speech tools occasionally for listening practice can be felt a bit like a mini game interposed into reading practice. As for Goo... 続きをみる

音声読み上げ機能でディクテーションしてみる

Why have TOEIC listening part scores of mine been almost without exception bad...? This time, I consider about this. Some thinkable reasons are ... 1)... 続きをみる

リーディングの仕方に変化をつける

A meaning-centered way of reading and a syntax-centered way of reading. The former would be going to tend towards "速読" or "多読". It feels like a sport ... 続きをみる

ちょっと文法上の疑問点（調べてない）

Presently I've done no goodly search to write what I'll write here. Here I am going to write about an issue of English grammar, but its purpose is nei... 続きをみる

全文書き写しにならないように

Earlier, I wrote about the transcribing of English books, i.e., "写経" ... But when doing the transcribing, what I'm actually doing is something like ma... 続きをみる

どのようにこのブログの英文を書いているか

The posts I uploaded to this blog were written in the following way. I open Google Translate. I type the text in English, looking at the Japanese outp... 続きをみる

「写経」はする？

Do you type the keyboard to transcribe the text of an English book or the like, as you read it? Me, I do, from time to time. Some call this act as "写経... 続きをみる

何に興味があるのかを知る

As I repeat skipping and reading passages of a book, I feel I may distinguish more clearly what I seem not so much interested in and what I seem quite... 続きをみる

「好きこそものの上手なれ」、英語

In some genre of work, it is said that the talent is crucial. Some try "hard" in that realm in the hope to be successful... But sometimes I feel very ... 続きをみる

英語学習者と英語愛好家

Some like to listen to classical music, some to jazz, some to rap, some to rock 'n roll, and so on... Here you can see an example of "to each his own"... 続きをみる

リーディングを持続させるために

They say hunger is the best sauce. If so, interest would be the best sauce for books, that is, the best source of motivation for reading. As I've spen... 続きをみる

リーディング練習中

For me, reading English is still not an easy thing to do. It means that to read English, exerting much concentration is needed. Therefore, when I feel... 続きをみる

気になるUI変更

It seems recently there were minor changes in how the result of Google retrieval is displayed. The first row of each item is its favicon and breadcrum... 続きをみる

多読中

I think it's true that in English extensive reading (tadoku), I should take books which are not difficult to read. For the primary purpose of extensiv... 続きをみる

洋書多読の頃合い

As to my efforts to improve my English reading skill, I started mainly by reading textbooks and by working on exercise books. Next, I've been mainly r... 続きをみる

TOEICを受ける前にした方がよさそうなこと

In TOEIC there are expected to be words which are relatively relevant to office or business scene, for example, "brochure," "list price," "reimburse,"... 続きをみる

英語そのものに対する関心の強さは？

Some people study English because they like the English language. As to me myself, how much do I like the language, i.e., the English language per se?... 続きをみる

基本的には量の問題？

As I read English, I realize again and again how much understandability in reading depends on context. That is, predictability of what will be told ma... 続きをみる

英語であるアルファベット列

What is the English language for me? The answer would not be simple, but to mention a point as it goes in my mind, it is this: I can read text written... 続きをみる

第二外国語が加わると

One is the unit and two is a plural. Somewhat like zero, I have my axial language, the Japanese language, as I'm a native Japanese speaker. If I had o... 続きをみる

ドイツ語と文献の世界

(*Title changed from former lengthy one.) I imagine a mid 19th-century hard-cover book written in German, whose subject is history. I feel as if every... 続きをみる

英語は最初で最後の世界共通語なのか？

Some say that English is the last lingua franca in history, because English is the first global lingua franca. Do I agree with this view? I think it's... 続きをみる

英語習得の難しさをどうイメージするべきか？

Now I've got a question: which is harder, to master English and to pass the judicial examination in Japan? I have an image that you need at least a co... 続きをみる

英語は正真正銘のスキル

I think I'm not a beginner of English. But still too often I encounter English sentences which are hard to make sense of. But in most cases, probably ... 続きをみる

英語学習者として英語をどう眺めるか

What can be a source of attractiveness in English for a learner? Here I present an idea which might be such one. English is a *real* natural language.... 続きをみる

第241回TOEIC公開テストの結果が届いた、が…

I've got the result of the score of the previous TOEIC I took. And the score was very disappointing. I expected that the score should increase. For su... 続きをみる

例文の価値。そして辞書に対する熟練度。

Until very recently, it was very usual for me to skip example sentences of an English dictionary. But I realized that to understand a word well, examp... 続きをみる

漫画「寄生獣」と日本語

In the comic "Kiseijū," fictional, intelligent parasitic creatures are depicted. Those creatures learn human languages incredibly quickly. The parasit... 続きをみる

必修科目としての英語について

You might have asked "Is English needed for all Japanese people?" in your junior high school days as English is a mandatory subject. (I heard it was m... 続きをみる

音読すると直面する問題

This time I write about reading aloud English text. So far, I've rarely read English text with my voice uttered. Usually I read silently. The reason i... 続きをみる

なぜ外国語を勉強するのか、というかなぜ外国語があるのか

As a learner of English I sometimes ask myself: is it meaningful to learn a foreign language? I've already got my native language (Japanese). Then, wh... 続きをみる

速読と精読の基本的な違い

Presently, should I aim at speed reading? Speed reading is in itself some kind of art. It's like what athletes do. We may be amazed at and stare at an... 続きをみる

そもそもまだ辞書なしで普通の英語の文章を読めない

Recently my learning English was focused on how many words I read in a period. My calculation was like this: "If I read English text at the speed of, ... 続きをみる

ライティング練習の効用

What are the benefits of the output practice, namely, writing in English? Here I discuss one thing as a benefit. That is, by writing in English, you, ... 続きをみる

第241回TOEIC公開テストの感想など

I've just taken the 241st TOEIC. So I make a personal memo here. This is a personal reflection on the test. Personally, I'm bad at the listening secti... 続きをみる

英語の原文を読む意義

One of the greatness in learning a foreign language is that you can directly access another culture. Directly, that is, not via translation. You may t... 続きをみる

日本人英語日記ブログがあまりない（気がする）理由

There are many Japanese who learn English. But I'm curious why, as far as I have seen, there are not so much population of Japanese learners of Englis... 続きをみる

外国語を学ぶ意味は？

To learn a language is a long way to go. And it is so long a way that sometimes I feel like asking a question. The question is "Is it meaningful to le... 続きをみる

英文の異なる見方

I have for so long seen English text as some kind of code for me to decipher. But my present view of English text is that for most of prosaic, ordinar... 続きをみる

英英辞書か英和辞書か

In studying English, should I use an English-English dictionary or should I use an English-Japanese dictionary? At my present level of English skills,... 続きをみる

機械翻訳で変わる英語の価値

Some may think that the remarkable development of machine translation is bad news to those learning English. For, due to the technology, their English... 続きをみる

Illusion that English is easy

Saying "English is easy" is like saying "Tennis is easy." In playing tennis, beginners and professionals can seem to be doing the same. They are runni... 続きをみる

Ease in reading

How hard it still is to read English text! On the other hand, I can read Japanese text with ease. I feel the processing of the text is vastly automati... 続きをみる

Language learning is demanding

Humans are generally professionals of a language. They have been using one (or several depending on the person) language every day since when they wer... 続きをみる

Switching between reading and writing

In learning English, when you feel a bit tired of reading English, it might be a good method then to switch to writing English. Output after input. It... 続きをみる

Online discussion

In social media, it often happens that I rewrite my post in a more moderate way of writing. Euphemism, qualifications, intentional defocussing of topi... 続きをみる

WPM (words per minute)

In Japan's book market, books written about TOEIC have established a solid ground. For learners, numeralization of English skills gives a useful map t... 続きをみる

Necessity of extensive reading

Read, read, read! This is my primary guideline for improvement of the English skills. I'm probably now somewhere in the middle-level of learning Engli... 続きをみる

English is rather quite "difficult"

When seen as a field of study, a natural language including English is voluminous and subtle. However, basically, understanding a natural language wou... 続きをみる

AI and machine translation

Output practice is great after a certain amount of input. Without input, output cannot be effective enough. I must read English more, and then my writ... 続きをみる

English, today's international language

In the Middle Ages, university students in Europe were required to learn Latin as a basis of academic research. (Or so understand I.) This situation i... 続きをみる

Is English easy?

As I have been studying English, I now have some insight about studying English. People may think English is "easy." Speaking English is not special, ... 続きをみる

Aptitude for English

Still my writing English is at the speed far short of a desirable level. And still grammatically questionable. Also the wording can be very much incor... 続きをみる

Output Practice

I seem to have wanted a field of technology as my occupation. But why has it been so? I ask myself and I find that probably it is because I feel I cou... 続きをみる

Why Muragon?

In this blog, I don't particularly care about what to write. It is that I write in this blog basically in order just to write in English. Output pract... 続きをみる

"マー・則・バレ・ライ" ベースボール・レコードブック 2014

「マー君、神の子、不思議な子」野村克也 ベースボール・レコードブック 2014（日本プロ野球記録年鑑 2014） ベースボール・レコードブック 2014 ベースボールマガジン社 「マー君、神の子、不思議な子」 マー君（田中将大）に始まり、マー君で終わったかのような 2013年のプロ野球ですが、 バレ... 続きをみる

"毎日続ける大豆の健康" 無調整豆乳の大人買い

キッコーマン おいしい無調整豆乳の味と風味は最高です！ キッコーマンおいしい無調整豆乳 植物性たんぱく飲料（契約栽培丸大豆使用） 胃腸にやさしくって、とっても美味しい無調整豆乳。 日本に帰ってきているので、大人買いしましたw 朝のそうじの後と昼休みに レンジでチンして味わわせて頂いております。 植物... 続きをみる

東京オリンピックの時の100円銀貨（昭和39年/1964年）

五輪記念硬貨！1964年東京オリンピック銀貨です～ 東京オリンピック100円銀貨表面（昭和39年/1964年） 東京オリンピック記念100円銀貨裏面（昭和39年/1964年） 前回の東京オリンピックの時に発行された 100円玉が知らない間に財布の中に入り込んでいました。 バスマジックリンでピッカピッ... 続きをみる